<article>A consortium led by Wattle Hill and ROC Capital has increased its takeover bid for Capilano Honey, Australia’s biggest honey distributor, to A$21 per share, or a total of A$198.6 million ($144 million).</article>

A consortium led by Wattle Hill and ROC Capital has increased its takeover bid for Capilano Honey, Australia’s biggest honey distributor, to A$21 per share, or a total of A$198.6 million ($144 million).
The original offer was A$20.06 per share, or an A$189.7 million ($137.4 million) cash consideration.
Wattle Hill and ROC will each own 50 per cent of the company, Capilano said in a regulatory filing.
Along with the option of a cash transaction, Capilano’s shareholders can opt for a scrip consideration.
Capilano said the takeover offer was “fair and reasonable”, and recommended that its shareholders vote in favour of the deal.
The firm said an independent expert calculated the value of each share in Bravo HoldCo – the entity established for the buyout &#8211; to be in the range of A$11.36 and A$15.65 on a minority interest basis.
“This is less than the increased subscription price of $21 which a Capilano shareholder would need to pay for HoldCo shares under the HoldCo share offer,” Capilano said in the filing.
The transaction is expected to be concluded in December.
Founded in 1953, Capilano is engaged in the business of honey packaging and marketing, unprocessed beeswax, and health and wellness products.
The company’s domestic revenues reached A$115 million in the year ended 30 June 2018, up 4 per cent compared to the previous year, while export revenues increased 5 per cent to A$24 million.
Wattle Hill, headquartered in Sydney with offices in Hong Kong, is a private equity fund focused on investments in Australian businesses that offer products and services in demand by Chinese consumers.
Wattle Hill established its Australian fund in March 2016 with two of the largest insurance groups from Europe and China, as well as family office investors from China’s leading private e-commerce and fast moving consumer goods companies.
ROC is an alternative investment manager specialising in private equity investments across the Asia Pacific region. It was established in June 2014 following a management buy-out of Macquarie Group’s private markets business unit.
ROC has total funds under advice of approximately A$5.8 billion and has made over 65 direct investments.

Capilano said the takeover offer was “fair and reasonable”, and recommended that its shareholders vote in favour of the deal.

Wattle Hill, ROC up takeover offer for Australia's Capilano Honey to $144m

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Wattle Hill, ROC up takeover offer for Australia's Capilano Honey to $144m

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